Estacada schools went on lockdown today as police searched for the
suspect in the fatal shooting of a weighmaster.

The district lifted the lockdown just past 1 p.m., after the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said it was safe to let students go.

Expecting inclement weather, the district canceled afternoon kindergarten classes for the day and planned to release all other students two
hours early before news of the shooting emerged. The district stayed in touch with parents using an automated system that sent out updates with text messages and phone calls.

Clackamas River Elementary let its a.m. kindergarteners go
home just before going into lockdown at about 11:30 a.m. One kindergartner who
didn't have a way to get home stayed on campus, according to a spokeswoman in
the superintendent's office.

Now, elementary students can leave at 2:15 p.m. and junior high and high schools students will get to go home at 1:15 p.m.

The victim is a male weighmaster who worked for Clackamas County, Commissioner Jim Bernard told The Oregonian earlier. Oregon law permits weighmasters to issue citations and arrest suspects, just as police do.

Boring Fire District crews and an ambulance were dispatched to the scene. But they were soon called off, because it was clear the victim had died.

Police said the suspect -- a male -- got away in a silver Mercedes. They're looking for a 2004 model with Washington license plates ANB-7070, which they believe may be the car.

Witnesses said the suspect was originally driving an O'Malley
Bros. Trucking pickup before he ditched the truck and took off in the Mercedes.
They found the truck at the company's headquarters at 30855 S.E. Ely Road, north
of Estacada.